Richard t



(No Model.)

B. T. BROWN.

PAPER FOLDING MACHINE.

N0. 366,758. Patented July 19, 1887.

can. 11. 0%. p $4M Aii /S.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD T. BROYVN, OF ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE BROIVN FOLDING MACHINE COMPANY.

PAPER-FOLDING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Application filed October 4, ISSG.

T0 a/TZ whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, RICHARD T. BROWN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Erie, in the county of Erie and State of Pennsylvania, haveinventcd certain new and useful Improvements in Paper-Folding Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to paper-folding machines; and it consists in certain improvements in the construction of the same, as will be hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings as follows:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the top of a papenfolding machine and shows my improvement in place. Fig. 2 is a top view of the two side guides, E E. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of one of the side guides on the line 06 a: in Fig. 2.

A marks the top of the folding-machine; B, the tapes which carry the sheet into position to be folded; G O, the first set of folding-rollers; D, the first folding-blade; E E, the side guides; F, the front stop; S, the sheet of paper in place to be folded. These parts are all common in paper-folding machines, and their construction in my machine is the same as in ordinary machines, except the side guides, which are improved in form, as will be here inafter described. The letters of reference designating other parts will be referred to in place in the following description of my improvements.

On the side of the machine to which the sheet is fed, and in front of the place occupied by the drop-rollers, (not shown,) I place above the table A. a cross-bar, 11, supported on studs h h on the frame-work. To this cross-bar is attached adj ustably, by screws g g or other convenient means, two (or more, if desired) brackets, G G,which carry on their outer ends rollers G G, which impinge upon such of the tapes B as may be desired. These brackets G may not only be adjusted at any point along the bar H, but also so as to bring the rollers Gr more or less distant from the bar. The means shown for making this latter adjust- Patent No. 366,758, dated July 19, 1887.

Serial No. 25,982. (No model.)

ment are slots in the brackets, through which the binding-screws 9 pass. Any convenient method, however, may be employed.

It will be seen, by observing Fig. 1, that the paper, S, as it passes into the machinc,will pass under the rollers G, and by observing the sheet S it will be seen that the brackets G are so adjusted that as the sheet reaches the front stop, F, its rear end, or tail, as it is called in the trade, will just clear the rollers G. The object of these rollers is, first, to cause the sheet to move precisely with the tapes, and, second, to act as a back stop to prevent the sheet rebounding from the front stop. .Heretofore it has been common to use two tapes, one above the other, the sheet passing between the two to give precision to the movement of the sheet; but this construction is objectionable, as it requires extra appliances to carry these upper tapes, and as when the sheet is thin or flimsy, there being so much friction upon it by the two sets of tapes, it will buckle up or crimple. In many machines upper tapes are not used, the weight of the sheet being depended upon to keep it in contact with the tapes B after the drop-rollers are raised. This method does not secure precision in the movement of the sheet, for air-currents are created by the movement of the sheet,which lifts it from the tapes.

The back-stopping feature of the rollers G is the most important. Back stops heretofore have consisted of catches on the table or of presserfingers, which act on the top of the sheet at the proper time.

My improvement in the side guides consists in providing a thin lip or flange, e, on the lower edge, which reaches under the sheet. This prevents the sheet fromcatching by get- 0 ting in below the guides-that is, between the guide and the table A. This lip is seen clearly in Figs. 2 and 3.

In machines having no top table, but bars, as is common, the lip e on the side guide will 95 keep the edges of the sheet from dropping or sagging.

\Vhat I claim as new is-- 1. In a paper-folding machine, the combination, substantially as shown, of a front stop to arrest the incoming sheet, and a back stop consisting of rollers, under which the sheet passes, which are adj usted so as to merely nation of the horizontal cross-bar H above clear the sheet as it comes against the front the table, back of the tail of the sheet when stop. in place to be folded and in front of the drop- 15 2. In a paper-folding machine, the combirollers, and rollers which bear on the sheet 5 nation, substantially as shown, of tapes which over the tapes connected with brackets, which lie below the sheet andconvey it into the maare adjustable on said bar. chine, and rollers adjusted, to press on said In testimony whereof I affix my signature in sheet over the tapes immediately back of the presence of two witnesses.

' point where the tail of the sheet stops when RICHARD T. BROWN.

' to in position to be folded, and thereby serve as Witnesses:

back stops to prevent the rebound of the sheet. R0131. I-I. PORTER,

3. In a paperffolding machine, the combi- F. B. \VHIPPLE. 

